Cranesbills that form nice/tidy clumps?

growitnowMay 7, 2013

Hi, I'm trying to generate a short list of cranesbills that form a nice clump. By "nice" I mean does not sprawl. I'm open to different sizes and colors but just want something that won't trail into everything else or get so "scraggly" :)

In looking around I see these listed, but I don't know if they are accurate (I've grown Johnson's blue, for example and I wouldn't call that a 'tidy clump'). I'd appreciate some experienced advice..

I hear you. I'm not usually one for having to have everything neat and tidy, but the scraggly look of some Geraniums has become a bit irksome to me. I've grown a number of them over the years and only a few have made it to my top favorites- mainly because they ARE nice looking after bloom.

For foliage, I LOVE biokovo. The foliage stays compact and mounded, and turns a beautiful color in fall. I don't have a lot of experience with geraniums, but everything else I've grown (Johnson's Blue, Claridge Druce, and a few others I can't think of at the moment) all had that sprawling habit which I don't care for as much.

Karin, the Ballerina and Purple Pillow are gorgeous! I wil have to try those. The biokovo has the wonderful foliage but the flowers are not as dramatic as your photo. What is the growing situation for those? Shade? Part shade? Dry? etc....

These are in full sun in a rock garden. The soil is good, but not especially moist because it drains fast. I also have them in a garden that gets afternoon shade and I think they are a bit happier there. But they have done surprisingly well in the rock garden setting.

These days I am all about neat, well-behaved plants, so these guys are stars for me.

One of my worst offenders in my war on messiness is geranium sanguinium which self-seeds like crazy and is very hard to pull out, even when it's tiny. So I don't advise that plant to anyone!

-Karin, sure thing ;-) I have a large stand of the macrorrhizum under a red twig dogwood shrub and it does outstanding. I've had luck with very few perennials under there aside from the Geranium, Epimedium, and Ajuga.

Geranium samobar is another that is more of a tidy clumper than a sprawler, although it does like to self-seed. Fortunately, it doesn't go crazy with the self-seeding, and this just means I have several in my garden. It is more of a foliage plant, with small magenta blooms, and it will grow in complete shade to part shade, in my garden.

Otoh, I have Geranium nimbus and Brookside, and they both sprawl quite a bit. It can be charming, when they wind their way through other flowers to reach the sun, but they aren't exactly neat and tidy! I think one of them is more sprawly than the other, but I get them mixed up.

go to the website "Geranaciaceae" and you will see just about every perennial geranium you can buy. The owner will answer your questions.
Most of the plants cost 7-8 dollars. They are not huge, but are very healthy and have very good root systems. She's in CA so shipping is not cheap, but when I figured out the per plant cost (inc. shipping) it came to about 9.25, which is certainly in line with many nurseries. And her plants are much better grown. They arrived in perfect condition.
I think starting with a smaller plant in your situation there'd be less transplant shock.
I found at Santa Rosa nursery last year a clumping blue called "Havana Blues." There are a couple of other blue/purples that are supposed to be like "Jolly Bee.", clumping. One is Azure something.
I think Tiny Monster is a good clumper
Johnson's Blue flops.
Geranium Magnificum also sprawls in too rich soil in my garden. Gets at least a foot across.

PS
Samobar has variagated foliage. Unfortunately, the colors are unstable in the seedlings. I found the flowers get lighter and muddier and the dark coloration in the leaves can be diminished. The owner of the geranium nursery confirmed that is true. So I just rogue out the bad ones.

Christinmk: I trim G. magnificum back all the way to the ground immediately after flowering - they bounce right back in no time, and the fresh foliage stays neat and tidy all the way through to frost. They are in full sun.

Please don't leave out the charming and beautiful soft yellow flowers of Erodium golden storksbill. Very diminutive clump. Great for rock gardens, but does well for me in full afternoon sun (at foot of spruce tree)here in the Rockies. Prolific bloomer of a different color. Also a good echo for climbing rose Golden Showers.

Do keep in mind that Biocovo does creep around, ever expanding into open spaces, slowly, but surely.
The foliage is lovely, evergreen year round, and the flowers nice enough, but it is often used as a ground cover and does a good job of it.
1 pink and 1 white G.Bicovo here

dominoswrath, my soil has a high clay content. I lightened it up somewhat when planting new ground, but it is still on the clay side. This ground was tilled and first planted 12 years ago. The geraniums were planted 4 years ago and have each spread out a good 3 to 4 feet in all directions.